Animanga in the News: 11/13 - 11/18

This week we've got five videos, eight different series getting their own adaptations, two manga series ending, a weekly magazine goes monthly, a famous TWILIGHT actor offered a role in Akira, and an interview with artist Hong Ki-Woo who was a manga assistant on The Breaker! Read On!~

TWILIGHT is coming to the Live-Action AKIRA movie?Kristen Stewart was offered a role in 'Akira'.

Twilight actress Kristen Stewart has been offered the role of Ky Reed in Warner Bros. Will she be winning the Manga and Anime fans to her side next? Although no cast members have been confirmed, many have been mentioned. Stewart has spent plenty of time in the spotlight as Bella Swan in the Twilight franchise and she’ll soon be seen on the big screen as a lead in Snow White and the Huntsman, but TwitchFilm brings word that she might soon step down into a supporting role as Kei in the US adaptation of Katsuhiro Otomo’s classic Akira.

The film revolves around the leader of a biker gang named Kaneda (played by Garrett Hedlund) who must rescue his friend, Tetsuo, from a government installation that runs experiments on people to unlock psychokinetic abilities. Kei is a medium that becomes Kaneda’s love interest.

Stewart has already taken on two iconic roles so it will be interesting to see if she’s willing to take on a third one. She’s practically worshiped by dedicated legions of Twihards and fairy tale territory has been staked out with her role as Snow White. Will she be winning the Manga and Anime fans to her side next?

Historical Manga Kingdom Gets TV Anime in 2012Yasuhisa Hara's story set in ancient China to run on NHK.

This year's 51st issue of Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump magazine is announcing on Thursday that a television anime adaptation of Yasuhisa Hara's historical manga Kingdom has been green-lit. The story, set in China nearly 2,500 years ago, will run on the public broadcaster NHK next year. The studio Pierrot is producing the anime.

The story follows Li Xin and Hyō, two boys without families in the Warring States Period when China has been embroiled in war for five centuries. Despite living like slaves, the boys strive to realize their dream of becoming warlords.

The manga has been running in Weekly Young Jump since 2006, and the 24th volume will ship in Japan on Friday.

A live-action television series adaptation of the Ekiben Hitoritabi (A Solo Journey for Station Bentō) manga by supervisor Kan Sakurai and artist Jun Hayase has been green-lit. Yoshinori Okada (Redline, Hana Zakari no Kimi-tachi e, Densha Otoko) will play the lead character Daisuke Nakahara.

Daisuke is an ardent fan of train station bentō (boxed meals) and rail travel. For their 10th anniversary, his wife gives him a special rail ticket all around Japan, and the manga follows his travels.

Daisuke just finished his trip in this year's 23rd issue of Futabasha's Manga Action magazine on Tuesday, and the manga will start a new arc on December 20. In the "Tohoku Revisited" arc, Daisuke will return to the area hard-hit by the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake (Higashi Nihon Daishinsai) disaster to support the station bentō shop workers.

The live-action television series will depict Daisuke's travels to the Tohoku region. The broadcast date, station information, and other details have not been made public yet.

The online manga website JManga posted an English translation of the first volume earlier this year.

The makers of the Ranma ½ live-action special are releasing a new poster with art drawn by the original manga's creator Rumiko Takahashi on Tuesday. The poster features Takahashi's art as a mirror image of the martial arts comedy's live-action cast poster.

Gonzo to Collaborate with Singapore School for Animation TrainingJapanese studio and animation school aim to expand anime education worldwide.

The Gonzo anime studio is partnering with Singapore's ArtFusion Media School to create a new anime-style animation school. Developing anime training overseas and expanding the medium into foreign countries while remaining centered in Asia is the program's main goal. The rising demand for anime and its international popularity also inspired the collaboration's creation.

Established in 2007, ArtFusion Media School already offers courses in 3D modeling, character animation, conceptual art, and digital visual effects. The new partnership will offer short-term classes intended for foreign fans of Japanese animation. Gonzo states that while a large number of anime fans live in Singapore, there is little Japanese-style animation training available in the country.

The partners also hope to create international licensing agreements to accommodate other countries' desires for education in anime creation. With that goal in mind, Gonzo and ArtFusion Media School plan to offer long-term courses in their anime education program in the future.

The collaboration recognizes that there are many anime fans in foreign countries who may want to create anime, but the inability to travel to Japan, difficulty in understanding Japanese, and other obstacles prevent them. This project's creators want to help aspiring anime developers overcome such hurdles.

The official YouTube channel for the anime adaptation of Kairi Shimotsuki's Brave10 manga began streaming a 95-second promotional video on Tuesday. Unlike the first promotional video, this new one contains actual animated footage.

This year's 24th issue of Shueisha's Margaret magazine is announcing on Saturday that a live-action television series adaptation of Natsumi Aida's Switch Girl!! comedy manga series has been green-lit. The television series will premiere on December 24 on the satellite channel Fuji TV Two, and Seventeen magazine model Mariya Nishiuchi will star in the show.

The story follows a seemingly ultra-cool and stylish girl named Nika Tamiya, but the fashionable persona is all an act that she "switches" on when she is out. At home, she "switches" off and reveals her true slovenly self that almost no one at her high school knows. One day, a transfer student named Arata Kamiyama moves into her apartment complex and discovers both sides of Nika.

Aida launched the manga in Margaret in 2006, and Shueisha published the 17th compiled book volume in September.

The Japanese publisher Square Enix posted the 13th and final chapter of the Fractale manga adaptation on the Gangan Online website on Thursday. The manga became the center of a public dispute between Yutaka Yamamoto, the director of the original Fractale anime, and the manga's artist Mutsumi Akazaki this past summer.

Akazaki had written on her blog in June that she found the work "uninteresting" and added that she wanted to work on a manga that she enjoyed. After criticizing Akazaki's comments, Yamamoto reported on his Twitter account that he asked the franchise's production committee to discontinue the manga series. However, Yamamoto noted that the final decision lies with the production committee. The following week, the 10th installment went online.

The manga launched on Gangan Online last year, and Square Enix published the second compiled book volume in July.

The November 16 issue of Houbunsha's bi-monthly Manga Time Kirara Miracle magazine announced that publication will go monthly beginning with the March issue on January 16. The magazine mainly publishes four-panel comic manga.

Jormungand Action Manga About to End in JapanTakahashi's weapons dealer story serialized in Sunday GX mag since 2006.

The December issue of Shogakukan's Monthly Sunday GX is reporting on Saturday that Keitarō Takahashi's Jormungand manga will conclude in the magazine's February issue on January 19.

The action manga has serialized in the magazine since 2006, and the tenth compiled volume will ship in Japan on December 19. Viz Media began releasing Jormungand in North America in 2009, and the company's English edition of the eighth compiled book will ship on January 10.

The story centers on an underground weapon seller and her accomplices and begins when a quiet boy who hates weapons joins the team.

The January issue of Akita Shoten's Monthly Champion RED magazine is announcing on Saturday that Go Nagai's Mao Dante tai Getter Robo G (Demon Lord Dante vs. Getter Robo G) manga will conclude in the next issue on December 19. Nagai launched the manga in the magazine on August 19.

Monthly Champion RED has been running Shin Mazinger Zero, Yoshiaki Tabata and Yūki Yogo's manga inspired by Go Nagai's original Mazinger Z story, since 2009. However, the magazine reported that Nagai is drawing the "dream matchup" between Demon Lord Dante and Getter Robo G himself. Nagai created the original Demon Lord Dante manga in 1971 and Getter Robo G in 1975.

The Japanese movie website Cinema Today began streaming the 108-second trailer for the anime movie Tibetan Dog on Friday. The trailer features the theme song "Echoes" by female Tibetan-Chinese singer Alan Dawa Dolma.

Directed by Masayuki Kojima (Monster, Piano Forest) at the anime studio MADHOUSE, this joint Japanese/Chinese production is a coming-of-age story about a young, city boy (voiced by Tatsuomi Hamada) who suddenly must live in Tibet. The film highlights the natural beauty of Tibet and the boy's interaction with a large, golden-haired Tibetan dog.

Shigeru Fujita (Monster) adapted the original character designs, created by Monster and 20th Century Boys manga creator Naoki Urasawa, for animation. The film will open in Japan on January 7, 2012.

The live-action Doraemon ad starring international film star Jean Reno (Léon: The Professional, Mission: Impossible, The Da Vinci Code) began airing in Japan on Friday. "Nobita's Barbeque" is the second ad in Toyota Motor Corporation's campaign which depicts the characters of the classic children's manga Doraemon in live-action, two decades after they grow up.

Hong Ki-woo was an assistant artist for "The Breaker" and is the artist of The Swordsman, a Korean comic (manhwa). To the editor, it was the first time one of the authors came to 'Paris Manga & Sci-Fi.' Quite stressed on the outset, Hon-Ki-woo was relaxed enough throughout the interview and was very grateful to share his experiences to the French public.

What was your journey to become a designer?

Quote by Hong Ki-Woo:

When I was in high school, a friend of mine became an apprentice of Park Jin-Hwan, the author of The Breaker. When he left for the army, I replaced it for five years. Then I met the writer of The Swordsman: Lee Jae-Hun . That's how it all started for me. Before The Swordsman, Inzac (his first series) was just a test.

The Swordsman drama-adaptation was disseminated in 2011. Have you participated in this adaptation? What do you think?

Quote by Hong Ki-Woo:

Initially, The Swordsman was performed in order to be adapted into TV series! It happened faster than expected. The problem was that I did not have the right to participate in this series. The basic story does not change, but I have no right to intervene. Like everyone else, I find the adjustment on my TV! I was a little worried on what kind of changes the story would take, and what would exactly happen. But overall, I am satisfied with their work.

Deawon, the publisher, is recognized in your country (Korea). How do you work with them?

Quote by Hong Ki-Woo:

At the deadline, I have two weeks to draw. For three days, I put up sketches and then for five days I draw with pencil; the next three days I draw with markers, and the last days I finished with the details – and with that I complete the design. With the ‘Deawon’ publisher, it is going very well, even if our relationship is limited only to a professional level. Note that the magazine that publishes The Swordsman is rather intended for readers of high school students. I then must censor scenes of violence and sex, and usually I dare to not draw them to explicit.

In Korea, The Swordsman is published in the same magazine as Naruto and One Piece. How do you feel about this?

Quote by Hong Ki-Woo:

I am very pleased because I'm a fan of those types of manga. And it helps to sell mine! So inevitably, I am delighted to be in the same magazine with those few! I am a big fan of Mitsuru Adachi. I'm also a fan Takeshi Obata manga art designs! And I have not forgotten Mr. Park, the author of The Breaker, a great writer!

In your opinion, what is the difference between manga and manhwa?

Quote by Hong Ki-Woo:

I do not see much of a difference. The only major difference is the cultural foundations are based on two different countries. Still, there is the pre-publication system that is not the same. Japan is very strict: Japanese authors are monitored by the editorial staff on a completely different level. In Korea, there is a mutual respect to the creators of series. The negotiators do not dare to actually disrupt our work.

The December issue of Shueisha's Bessatsu Margaret magazine announced on Friday that Lovely Complex (Love*Com) creator Aya Nakahara will launch her romance manga series Junjō Cider in the next issue on December 13. The story follows a girl named Momota who falls for Akai, a boy whose aloof exterior belies a gentle heart.

Viz Media published the Love*Com manga's 17 volumes in North America, and Viz Pictures released the manga's live-action film adaptation on DVD. There is also a television anime series that ran in Japan in 2007. Nakahara began her last manga series, Berry Dynamite, in Bessatsu Margaret in 2009, and she ended it last year.

The staff of the Tiger & Bunny anime announced during the Hero Awards 2011 event on Sunday that production on two films has been green-lit; the first film is planned for next year. The staff previewed previously unseen footage at the event.

The event was held twice during the daytime and nighttime; the daytime attendees were asked not to reveal the announcement until the end of the second event, but the time that the embargo was supposed to end was miscommunicated as 8:00 p.m. (6:00 a.m. EST) instead of 9:00 p.m. (7:00 a.m. EST).

The "Hero Awards 2011" event itself will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on April 20. The event was the first phase of Tiger & Bunny "Next Project," and the two films are the second phase. ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Online site posted more images from scenes in the two films.